Page 25 - Today’s Business Communication; A How-to Guide for the Modern Professional

14 TODAY’S BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Writing Email

Although we have many different communication channels to use at
work, email receives disproportionately heavy use. In fact, the Harvard
2,3
Business Review reported on a 2012 survey of 2,600 workers in the United
States, United Kingdom, and South Africa who use email daily. What the
survey demonstrated is that 76% of the survey respondents are exchang-
ing documents, 69% are sending information to groups of people, 61%
believe they are improving communication across time zones, 60% are
using email as an accountability tool, and 59% use email to search for
information. Any single one of those uses could expose you or your com-
pany to legal difficulties. Send the wrong document to the wrong person,
and you’ve violated confidentiality. If you’re in contract negotiations, for
example, you could inadvertently share trade secrets that could get you
fired. Yet, the Harvard Business Review said of email that it remains the
“mule of the information age—stubborn and strong.”
4
Whether it is a metaphorical thoroughbred horse or a lowly plow
mule, email is popular with both companies and employees. Email’s pop-
ularity derives, in part, from corporate cultures that value the communi-
cations channel. It is also liked for its immediacy and accessibility. Email
has been adopted by people from all four of the generational cohorts
currently represented in the workforce: The Silents, The Baby Boomers,
The Gen Xers, and The Millennials. According to the Pew Internet and
American Life Project, all four groups reported email usage rates of 90%
or greater!
5
In the first chapter, we told you that research suggests workers create
40,000 words across 200 emails in a year, which would be the equivalent
number of words found in a 200-page novel. That fact suggests workers
are quite prolific with their email production. Therefore, don’t you think
it’s important to follow some best practices to make the most of your
email “novel?”
When sending business email, please remember that readers and
courts often give business emails the same legal weight as paper docu-
ments. If you put something in writing, you and your organization may
be held liable. You should also remember that email is lean. This means
that because the reader can only draw conclusions from text alone, the